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IV 5090 
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° RV Wet and dry Massachusetts 

By CORA FRANCES STODDARD 
ft 

8ecreta/ry of the Scientific Temperance Federation, Boston, Mass. 

[The following pages present a few facts from a -54-page report, "Wet and Dry- 
Years in a Decade of Massachusetts Public Records," which compares the "wet" and 
"dry" years of a decade from statistics largely compiled from public records. Pages 
named refer to pages of this report.] 

FROM LOCK-UP TO MOVIES 
The chief of police on Christmas day saw coming with their families from a local 
theatre a dozen men, sober and well dressed, whom, at Christmas in the years before 
prohibition, he regularly had in $he local jail fdi" drunkenness. — From a Massachusetts 
town (p. - f f8.) 

ARRESTS IN MASSACHUSETTS 
Total. Average 1912-1918. __ 178,072 

Total. Average 1920-1921. 133,846 

■■■■■■■■MflSHilHBHHG^IiH^HHffiE^lHHnHilBHBH^HI Decrease 24% 
Drunkenness. Average 1912-18. 108,123 

Drunkenness. Average 1920-21. 48,372 
■■■■■■■■QHmm Decrease 

Years ending Sept. 30. 

— Mass Dept. Corrections. 

ARRESTS OF WOMEN IN MASSACHUSETTS 
Total. Average 1912-1918. • 12,943 

Total. Average 1920-21. 7,884 

■■HHBHHH&flHHg&HflHHHBHSBBSHBHSSBi Decrease 
Drunkenness. Av. 1912-18. 7,273 

Drunk'n's. Av. 1920-21, 2,251. 

■■■■■■■SjSfl Dei 

Years ending Sept. 30. 

— Mass. Dept. Corrections. 
Arrests of women for drunkenness reduced more than two-thirds. P. 14. 
_The women drunkards who used to be sent to Boston City Hospital from cheaper 
hotels and dance halls have nearly disappeared. P. 29. 

ARRESTS IN BOSTON 

AVERAGE 1912-18 AVERAGE 1U20-21 DECREASE 

Drunkenness 59,308 26,393 55% 

Foreign-bom : 27,771 10,21'9 63% 

Non-resident 28,091 8,526 ' 69% 

Offences vs. person 4,068 3,408 16% 

Offences vs. property with violence 589 598 |1% 

Offences vs. property without violence 4,352 3,824 12% 

Malicious offences vs. property 203 122 39% 

Offences vs. chastity 2,467 1,671 32% 

Total Arrests* 90,079 65,489 27% 

*Includes foregoing items and miscellaneous arrests not tabulated such as those 
for violating traffic, sanitary or automobile laws, arrests of suspicious persons, etc. 
Pp. 9 and 12. tlncrease. 

Years ending Nov. 30. 

— Boston Police Department. 



ARRESTS OF CHILDREN AND YOUTH IN BOSTON 

Neglected, Wayward, Delinquent 
Av. 1912-1918 3,124 



2,484 

■■■ Decrease 20% 



Children Under 15 Years of Age 
Av. 1912-18. 2,426 £?fi^^ 

■■^■■■■■■■■■■■^■■■■■■■■H Decrease 25% K/\ K 

Av^912^8^ 663 -\ Arrests • l 

^^^^"^""1 I Minors 

Av. >-21 436 f Drunkenness. Decrease 34%. 

Years ending Nov. 30. 

— Boston Police Department. 
"Juvenile delinquency is conspicuously due to better conditions in the homes result- 
ing from prohibition." P. 21. 

NEGLECTED CHILDREN 

Before Massachusetts Lower Courts 

Av. 1912-1918 1,005 

Av. 1920-21 785 

■■■■■■BHHHHHHHMflBHHHHHHBHHHHBHHHHHHBBH Decrease 22% 

Before Boston Juvenile Court 
Av. 1912- 18, 118 

Av. 1920-21, 56. Decrease 52%. 

Years ending Sept. 30. 

— Mass. Dept. of Corrections. 

DRUNKENNESS IN PARENTS 
Of Neglected and Dependent Children Admitted Boston Division Child Welfare 

TOTAL 1912-1918 TOTAL 1920-21 

Drunken father 19 children in each 100 1 in each 100 

Drunken mother 5 " " " " 

Both parents drunken.... 4 Only 1 case among 480 children 

— Boston Child Welfare Department. P. 21. 



Probation officers find that school attendance improves; children are better fed, 
better clothed, even in the 1922 winter of industrial depression. Pp. 20, 21. 

BOSTON WAYFARERS LODGE FOR MEN 
Lodgings Furnished 
Av. 1912-18 37,511 

Av. 1920-21, 11 ,762 

Meals Furnished 
Av. 1912-18 55,506 

Av. 1920-21 24,025 

Unemployment was worst in 1921 of any year in the decade. 

Hard Winters 

AV. NO. LODGINGS AV. NO. MEALS 

PER MONTH PER MONTH 

5 mos ending May 1, 1915 18,144 19,044 

3 mos. ending Apr. 1, 1922 2,868 7,575 

— Boston Overseers of Poor. 



FROM PATCHING TO CONSTRUCTING 

One fact stands out above all others. Intemperance under prohibition has been a 
decreasing factor in the work of the Family Welfare Society. It has thus been possible 
for the organization to undertake a great amount of constructive and preventive work 
instead of wasting time trying to alleviate suffering which could not fail to exist 
under such an evil as licensed liquor selling. — Stockton Raymond, General Secretary, 
Boston Family Welfare Society (formerly Associated Charities) p. 1^9. 

BOSTON FAMILY WELFARE SOCIETY* 

YEAR ENDING SEPT. 30 ENDING APR. 30 

Percentage of intemperance 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921* 1922 

in cases helped (p. 25) 27 20 10.6 2.5 2.5 4.1 

*7 months. ^Formerly Associated Charities. 

STATE FARM, MASSACHUSETTS 

Until Prohibition, this was "one of the most populous prison farms for drunkards and vagrants 
in the United States." 1 Drunkards committed are confirmed drunkards. 

Commitments for Drunkenness 

Years ending Sept. 30 

Av. 1912-18 2,483 

Av. 1920- 21, 344. Decrease 86% 

Prison Population Sept. 30 
Av. 1912-18 1,258 



Av. 1920- 21, 345. Decrease 

Almshouse Ward Population Apr. 1 
Av. 1913-19, 45 7 ! ' 

Av. 1921- 22, 282. Decrease 38% 

X R. W. Kelso, former Secy. Mass. State Board of Charities. 

"Any loss of population at the State Farm is almost entirely due to decreased drunken- 
ness." Pp. 15 and 42. 

— Mass. Dept. of Corrections. 

PAUPERISM IN MASSACHUSETTS ALMSHOUSES 

Supported by Cities and Towns 

Av. 1912-1918 14,271 

Av . 1920-21 8,566. 

Supported by State 

Av. 1912-18 8,267 

Av. 1920-21 4,618. 

■■■■H^^HHHHI Decrease kh% 

Years ending Mar. 31. 

— Mass. Dept. Public Welfare. 

WASHINGTONIAN HOME 

Alcoholic Admissions 

Annual av. 1912-1918 (7 wet years) 955 

Annual av. 1920-1921 (2 prohibition years) 552 

A large state hospital for inebriates admitting about as many as the Washing- 
tonian Home, and 10 small hospitals for inebriates have closed. P. 29. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS # 

029 827 253 \ 



DEATHS FROM ALCOHOLISM 

Massachusetts 
Av. 1913-18 225 

\v. lP:.'i»-2l 78 

■■■■■HHUHi Decrease 65% 

Boston 
Av. 1913-18 134 

Av. 1920-21 50 . 

■■■■■■■H Decrease 62% 

Boston Women 
Av. 1913- 18, 33 

Av^920-21, 6. 
■1 Decrease 80% 

"Evidently bad liquor does not kill so many as we have been led to suppose." 

— Dr. Richard Cabot, in Foreword to Rept., p. 3. 

DEATHS IN MASSACHUSETTS 

av. 1913-18 

Alcoholism 225 

Homicides 107 

Suicide 489 

av. 1912-17 

Cirrhosis of liver 308 

Tuberculosis death rate per 100,000 pop 10.4 

General death rate per 1,000 pop 14.73 

DEATHS IN BOSTON 

General death-rate per 1,000 pop 1G.31 

Infant death-rate pr. 1,000 live regist'r'd births 106.02 
*The 1921 rate was the lowest on record. 

— Mass. and Boston Records of Vital Statistics. 

ADMISSIONS OF ALCOHOLIC INSANITY IN PUBLIC HOSPITALS 
Av. 191 2-18 340 

Av. 1920-21 126 

Percentage of Alcoholic Insanity Among All Admissions 
Av. 1912-1918, 10.35 
Av. 1920-1921, 4.24 

Years ending - Sept. 30. 

— Mass. State Boakd of Insanity. 



7. 1920-21 


DECREASE 


78 

93 
432 
7. 1920-21 


65% 
13% 
11% 


178 
8.3 


42% 


13.11* 




14.46* 




89.03* 





FROM A FOREWORD TO THE REPORT 
Robert A. Woods: The object of this inquiry into public records is highly im- 
portant; it provides the large perspective in which the whole matter must be viewed. 
... It will serve effectively to adjourn the discussion of the subject from the region 
of casual impression and hearsay to that of the comprehensive and total facts. And it 
can leave no doubt in the open mind as to what the facts down to date are. P. 3. 

FROM 
WET AND DRY YEARS IN A DECADE OF MASSACHUSETTS PUBLIC RECORDS 

By Cora Frances Stoddard, Secretary of the Scientific Temperance Federation 
54 pp., 110 tables covering ten successive years, 1912-1921 

AMERICAN ISSUE PUBLISHING COMPANY 
WESTERVILLE, OHIO 



